Absorbent articles, such as diapers, for example, are manufactured by a process where discrete parts, articles, and/or components, such as leg elastic, waist elastic, labels, tapes, and/or other fasteners (referred to together as “articles”), for example, are applied to a moving carrier web comprised of an absorbent material. Often, a speed at which the articles are fed into the process is not the same as a speed of the moving carrier web itself. Thus, the speed of the articles must be changed to match the speed of the moving carrier web to properly apply the articles to the carrier web without adversely affecting the process or a finished product produced by the process. In view of the importance of matching the speed of the articles to the speed of the moving carrier web, this technology should be improved.